Tuesday, October 29, 2013

I just finished a 15 minute film in September but I decided
I wanted to make another one ASAP.

Here’s a breakdown of how it went down:

I tweeted a joke and wrote a script based on the tweet.

Props: $40

Food: $40

Crew: Me, the AD, the AC and one PA.

Lighting package: A lamp with a bright bulb and no shade (pictured above).The outdoors seen through the double glass
doors were filled with the existing practicals and a set of purple and orange
holiday lights. I decided I only wanted to light with practicals to see what the camera could do. I wasn't disappointed.

Camera: Canon 5D Mark III

Lenses:2 primes and
an L-series zoom.

Sound: Rode shotgun mic mounted on the camera because
someone (me) forgot to buy an XLR adapter to attach to the boom.

The script was 4 pages and the shooting schedule was from 6
p.m. to 12:30 a.m.There were no rehearsals
and I decided to withhold the script from the nonprofessional child actor until
an hour before the shoot to keep her performance fresh and authentic.She surprised me when she learned her lines
after going through the script only two times.I let her change her lines so that they could roll off her tongue more
easily.The grown up role was played by
a professional.

We didn’t actually start shooting until around 8:00 p.m. but
we kept on going until 12:30 with no breaks.It wasn’t intentional.It just
happened that way.I was afraid the kid
would get cranky and give me a hard time, but surprisingly the crew deflated and
she kept on going.

Post production lasted two weeks but it was mostly me
thinking and trying to make editing and sound decisions and taking long, long
breaks. The total running time is 5 minutes.

From inception to realization, the film took a month.I have never made a decision to shoot a film
this fast.Once you decide to go, you
must go go go and don’t stop.Make it
work.

Friday, October 25, 2013

I started this blog as a production diary ten years ago on
October 16:

I reluctantly begin
this journal wondering why anyone would care. In the end, it should be good for
something I suppose. Since wisdom is acquired from experience, i.e. falling on
your face, then I hope to share that painfully acquired wisdom with other filmmakers.

I remembered only because this morning on NPR they mentioned
the 10th anniversary of the fires.I also remembered I was shooting a film back then.I remembered I was fearless and very
ambitious.It was only my third film,
but I shot with a large crew two super 16mm cameras, 6 actors and many
locations all over San Diego.Also, my
shot list was heavy on dolly shots.Oy vey.I was audacious because I was stupid.I didn’t know better even though I should have known better because while
shooting my first film, a lot of things went wrong, including the worst thing
that could happen.My lead actress
bailed on me the day of the shoot and I had to replace her with a friend of a
friend.My second film was an arduous
shoot that amounted to nothing because I cast it wrong.It was an expensive lesson.

In spite of all the previous difficulties and hardships, I
made it worse on myself.Throughout the shoot,
I consoled myself by thinking, “This is my Fitzcarraldo.”It really was.

***

October 26, 2013 Sunday--Last
Day of Shooting

As I am getting in my car, I notice there is ash on the
ground. The sky looks dark and strange. What the fuck is going on? I arrive at
the Civic Center and immediately take a light reading. I am one half stop under
what I need. I look up. It is as if there was a giant silk diffusing the sky. I
decide to shoot the bus stop and Conformist sequences with the 50D and push it
a stop or two. Freddy and the rest of the guys arrive with the phone booth.
That thing weighs a ton and it took a lot of effort to get it to the middle of
the concourse. I am glad it’s them and not me. Poor guys. Neil has to leave the
shoot as soon as he gets there. He is afraid his house would be on the fire’s
path. He never comes back, but he calls us to tell us he’s okay.

We go off, guerilla style, into the street. The light
changes constantly and it is annoying. We had a blast shooting the bus stop
sequences. It was hilarious chasing Dulce down the street. We have to put up
lights to shoot the Conformist shot. The Civic Center guards are very helpful
and get us additional stingers. Ash starts to fall from the sky and allergies
start to flare up. Since all of the characters appear on the last sequence, all
of the actors are there. Genaro (make-up artist) asks me if he can make Israel look “prettier,”
softer. I say go for it, but the ass and boobs are fine.

The ash gets worse. How can this be happening? San Diego on
fire on the last day of my shoot. I will not quit or shut down. I can’t and I
won’t. I will finish shooting this film today. I think that if the fire gets
close to Hillcrest I will need to go home and get the film we already shot. I
have my priorities straight.

I go off to get some water and when I get back I notice
Natalia (DP) is crying. I see Freddy (AD) leave in a huff and sit down far away
on a bench. I ask one of the grips what happened. He tells me. Major drama. I
tell Freddy I cannot have the two people I need the most right now fighting. He
is giving me a lot of stress. Laura (Producer) comes over and asks me why
Natalia is crying. I cannot believe what is happening. Laura talks to Freddy,
then Freddy goes off and talks to Natalia. They come back smiling. I guess they
made up. I am surrounded by people, but I feel so alone.So alone.

It takes forever to shoot the phone booth sequence. It is
mostly dolly shots and I have to shoot them without a tripod. My body feels
like a pretzel. I look over to our camp, and I see people are having lunch.
Burritos from Baja Fresh. Luke is worried about his parents, since their house
is on the fire’s path. I tell him to go home. I look at my shot list and
storyboards. Nothing makes sense. People talk to me, I hear their voices, but I
can’t understand what they are saying to me. Dulce asks me how I am doing. I am
worried about her, her allergies, etc. She says she is fine. She has a great
attitude. So different than the actor I had to deal with on a certain shitty
film I directed that will never see the light of day.

Somehow, we finish shooting the end sequence. Freddy is
supposed to take the phone booth back to Stu Segall, but it turns out the
workers there are fighting the fire trying to keep it from getting to the
studios, so he won’t be able to take it back today. We have three hours until
we have to be at the Market Place. Lesley goes home to rest and Dulce, Genaro
and Melissa go to my house to get ready for the next scene. I look for my
burrito, but there isn’t one. I find a half-eaten burrito on a table and I eat
it without shame.

I still have to get the props for the shopping basket at Albertson’s.
I will have to cross the picket line. I can’t look the strikers on the eye. The
people united, will never be defeated. Fuck it, the film always comes first. I
try to pick cinematic vegetables and a baguette, of course. As I am leaving I
apologize to the striking workers and I explain why I crossed the picket line.
Their expressions say “we don’t give a shit and why are you telling us this?”
The shoot at the market goes relatively smooth. I want a shot from inside the
shopping cart, no way I will fit, so I put Natalia in there with the camera.

We are exhausted, faces black from the ash, eyes watering
and noses running, but we finish one hour under budget.

Lesson: Never schedule to shoot the ending to your film on
the last day.

***

During these past years, I’ve downsized in crew, budget and expectations.Mostly because I want to keep making films
regardless of my resources.I’ve also
become less delusional.I don’t expect
to get into any film festivals and my only hope for my films is that one person
that isn’t family or friend sees it, likes it and gets it.

Agnes Varda said that if she had known anything about
filmmaking, she would have never directed her first film.I think that even if you know something about
making films, nothing can prepare you for how hard it really is.It’s not like child birth.You don’t forget the pain.It’s more like raising a puppy.You never forget the challenges and
eventually decide that the rewards are worth it.You either quit or you keep on going because
you have no other choice.And that, as
any director will tell you, is a sickness.

October 29, 2013:

Lesson: Filmmaking is
about more than about the finished product. It is about the time you had with
your friends and colleagues creating the film.

P.S.Poly Esther isn’t online because the
only copy I have is on DVD.As soon as I’m
finished with Leave the Light On I
will have it transferred and I will put it online.